esrosedotblog

"NOBLE CAUSE"

Grieving War Mother's Protest Draws Notice

And in her own words: This is George Bush’s Accountability Moment.

None of my kids went to war.

One went into the service and had a good experience as far as I can tell. The Navy. I will have to ask him again. It is a long time ago.

Losing a child in your own lifetime is particularly tragic.

To lose a child to war has to be devastating.

To lose a child to a war that a leader cannot or will not 'explain' is—words fail.

I know that some parents channel their grief into the idea of patriotism and a higher cause. I don't quite know how they would be able to do this in the present circumstance.

I know. "Ours not to reason why; ours' but to do and die". It is a hard thing to contemplate. I think that is why many people do not even think about it. They compartment.

But, if it is your kid, the compartment has to crumble a bit.

These are not easy questions to answer and I do not want to be facile. This doesn't stop some from painting Sheehan as a traitor. Some have had the gall to say that her son would be ashamed of her.

I don't want to fall into the same trap of moralizing from the other side. It is just that there are unanswered questions for all of us. And, to parents, the lack of answers may be particularly painful.

Ms. Sheehan, it seems to me, is putting her question in a most simple and direct way.

I hadn't known that she was a part of a parent group that had an interview with bush. He would not answer the questions asked. The ones that fell off the script.

He didn't even refer to her son by name when she asked him to. He called the boy her 'loved one'.

Distance.

Did you know that there is an anti-war movement ginning up? I think it took a lot longer for the Viet Nam actions to begin.

I don't know. I am rambling.

And this doesn't even begin to address the uncounted deaths of Iraqis.

It is so fucking sad. All of it.